Top 4 Tips for Music Ministry Sound System Help

Are you one of the music ministries struggling with your sound system, especially your mixing board? You are not alone! I've share some of my struggles in previous posts. Just about every music ministry with a sound system has struggles! Here are a few of the cries uttered:

"Who can we get to run the board?"
"Why can't the congregation hear the singers?"
And so on...

Over the years I've tried many things, monitored the results, and tried new things! Here are my thoughts and recommendations.

1) Get Help: It's Out There
Believe it or not, even in small churches, there are people in the congregation that know how to run a sound system, and mixing board. In fact, you likely won't know this, but they want to run you mixing board! Why? Look at things from their perspective. Every week, they come to church and hear poorly mixed sound. They can't hear the vocals. The instruments are muffled, faint, or lost in the room acoustics. To them, this is painful to endure every week! Well, if they are out there, and have a burning desire to help fix the sound, why don't they? It is a simple answer. They haven't been asked.

This happened to me at my last church. We had a full band, but none of the people in the band could simultaneously play and set the board. We tried setting the board once for one song. Then we hoped that setting would be adequate for all songs, from Sunday to Sunday. It wasn't. We found that and hoped it would work

2) Run an Ad

So, I recommend a simple advertisement in the church bulletin. Make the position sound formal, so worthy of a commitment. Note in the advertisement that this person would make an invaluable contribution to the quality of music, prayer, and worship every week. Also note that prior experience is not necessary.

3) Angle for a Teen

I recommend angling for teens. Why? Hey, why not! :) Teens bring energy. Teens have a passion for music. Teens are eager to learn. Finding the right teen who is interested in learning more about music production is key.

4) Don't Loose 'em!

Once a sound person has been identified and selected snsure that this person is treated as a member of the music ministry. In fact go overboard in this treatment. Why? By definition the sound person is not a singer, and not an instrumentalist. As a result the sound person will feel like an outcast.

For me, I mentally treat the sound board as any other instrument. It must be tuned and must be played. Therefore I treat the sound person as an instrumentalist just like the other instrumentalists.

These are the tips that have worked for me. What has worked with your music ministry? Please add a comment and share your invaluable experiences with the rest of the music ministry community.

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